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Physicists & Scientists historical figures

Explore historical figures known as Physicists & Scientists. Read concise biographies, learn key facts, and play a quiz focused on this collection.

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53 figures

Presumed self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Italy · 1452–1519

Artist, inventor & scientist

Portrait of Marie Curie

Marie Curie

Poland · 1867–1934

Physicist & chemist

Portrait of Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

Germany · 1879–1955

Theoretical physicist

Seated portrait photograph of Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

United Kingdom · 1809–1882

Naturalist & biologist

Portrait of Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton

United Kingdom · 1642–1727

Mathematician & physicist

Painted portrait of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

United States · 1706–1790

Founding Father & polymath

Painted portrait representing the mathematician Euclid

Euclid

Greece · fl. c. 300 BCE

Mathematician

Painted portrait of Archimedes

Archimedes

Italy · c. 287–212 BCE

Mathematician, physicist & engineer

Painted portrait of Carl Friedrich Gauss

Carl Friedrich Gauss

Germany · 1777–1855

Mathematician & physicist

Photograph of physicist Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr

Denmark · 1885–1962

Physicist

Painted portrait of Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei

Italy · 1564–1642

Astronomer & physicist

Photograph of physicist Richard Feynman circa 1960

Richard Feynman

United States · 1918–1988

Theoretical physicist

Photograph of physicist Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking

United Kingdom · 1942–2018

Theoretical physicist & cosmologist

Photograph of physicist James Clerk Maxwell

James Clerk Maxwell

United Kingdom · 1831–1879

Physicist & mathematician

Photograph of Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday

United Kingdom · 1791–1867

Chemist & physicist

Photograph of Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall

United Kingdom · 1934–2025

Primatologist

Portrait of Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Franklin

United Kingdom · 1920–1958

X-ray crystallographer

Portrait of astronaut Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong

United States · 1930–2012

Astronaut

Portrait of Gregor Mendel

Gregor Mendel

Austria · 1822–1884

Biologist and friar

Portrait of Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur

France · 1822–1895

Chemist and microbiologist

Portrait of Katherine Johnson

Katherine Johnson

United States · 1918–2020

Mathematician

Portrait of Guglielmo Marconi

Guglielmo Marconi

Italy · 1874–1937

Inventor and electrical engineer

Portrait of Wilhelm Röntgen

Wilhelm Röntgen

Germany · 1845–1923

Physicist

Portrait of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

Netherlands · 1632–1723

Microbiologist

Portrait of Dmitri Mendeleev

Dmitri Mendeleev

Russia · 1834–1907

Chemist

Portrait of Grace Hopper

Grace Hopper

United States · 1906–1992

Computer scientist and naval officer

Portrait of astronaut Alan Shepard

Alan Shepard

United States · 1923–1998

Astronaut

Photograph of Tim Berners-Lee

Tim Berners-Lee

United Kingdom · born 1955

Computer scientist

Portrait of J. Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer

United States · 1904–1967

Theoretical physicist

Portrait of Enrico Fermi

Enrico Fermi

Italy · 1901–1954

Physicist

Portrait of Max Planck

Max Planck

Germany · 1858–1947

Theoretical physicist

Portrait of Werner Heisenberg

Werner Heisenberg

Germany · 1901–1976

Theoretical physicist

Photograph of Wolfgang Pauli

Wolfgang Pauli

Austria · 1900–1958

Theoretical physicist

Photograph of Erwin Schrödinger

Erwin Schrödinger

Austria · 1887–1961

Theoretical physicist

Photograph of Barbara McClintock in her laboratory

Barbara McClintock

United States · 1902–1992

Cytogeneticist

Portrait of Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud

Austria · 1856–1939

Founder of psychoanalysis

Portrait of Carl Jung

Carl Jung

Switzerland · 1875–1961

Founder of analytical psychology

Photograph of Ernest Rutherford

Ernest Rutherford

New Zealand · 1871–1937

Physicist and chemist

Photograph of Chien-Shiung Wu

Chien-Shiung Wu

China · 1912–1997

Physicist

Photograph of Dorothy Hodgkin

Dorothy Hodgkin

United Kingdom · 1910–1994

Chemist

Photograph of Lise Meitner

Lise Meitner

Austria · 1878–1968

Nuclear physicist

Photograph of Mae Jemison

Mae Jemison

United States · born 1956

Astronaut and physician

Portrait of Vivien Thomas

Vivien Thomas

United States · 1910–1985

Surgical laboratory supervisor

Photograph of Viktor Frankl

Viktor Frankl

Austria · 1905–1997

Neurologist and psychiatrist

Photograph of Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Jocelyn Bell Burnell

United Kingdom · 1943–

Astrophysicist

Photograph of Vera Rubin

Vera Rubin

United States · 1928–2016

Astronomer

Photograph of Katherine Freese

Katherine Freese

United States · 1957–

Theoretical physicist

Photograph of Sally Ride in astronaut uniform

Sally Ride

United States · 1951–2012

Astronaut & physicist

Official portrait of Peggy Whitson

Peggy Whitson

United States · 1960–

Astronaut & biochemist

Official NASA portrait of Ellen Ochoa

Ellen Ochoa

United States · 1958–

Astronaut & engineer

Photograph of Rosalind Picard

Rosalind Picard

United States · 1962–

Computer scientist

Photograph of George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver

United States · c. 1864–1943

Agricultural scientist & inventor

Photograph of Charles Babbage

Charles Babbage

United Kingdom · 1791–1871

Mathematician & inventor